Normandy, Westbrook to fork out $1M to settle tenant suit

Normandy Real Estate Partners and Westbrook Partners have agreed to pay more than $1 million in rebates for overcharges and illegal fees.

Earlier this year, tenants in properties that are part of a 42-building real estate portfolio in foreclosure filed a lawsuit in Bronx Supreme Court against management. The tenants in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan properties claimed that problems ranged from a nearly-bursting pipe to a blocked, broken-down elevator.

At the time the suit was filed, the portfolio was owned by Normandy Real Estate, Vantage Properties, Westbrook Partners and David Kramer, who owns Colonial Management. Vantage Properties and Kramer are not involved with the portfolio anymore.

The state found that Colonial did not adequately maintain the properties. Westbrook and Normandy refinanced the portfolio, which had been in foreclosure for nearly a year. They also fired Colonial and hired Langsam Property Services to take over managing the buildings.

Each tenant in the 1,700 below-market apartments will receive a one-time $600 rent rebate, the Wall Street Journal reported.

“Over one million families live in rent-regulated housing in New York City,” New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement provided to the New York Times. “They have a right to decent and safe housing, and a right to organize without being harassed.” [NYT] and [WSJ] — Mark Maurer